Tobacco companies have received more than £45 million investment from Lincolnshire County Council’s pension fund.

Figures published for Lincolnshire County Council’s pension committee next Thursday reveal that one company, British American Tobaccoo, is the fifth highest investment for its pension fund.

The council currently has £2.3 billion in the pension fund, up by £62.8 million in July when it sat at £2.1 billion.

The current investment for British American Tobacco sits at £24.1 million – 1% of the total fund.

This is down from £31.9 million noted in July 2018, however the fund stood at £37.6 million (1.7%) in March 2018.

But the fund did start the year at £19.4 million, according to a report in January.

BAT is not the only tobacco investment the council has made, with more than £21 million going to four others:

Phillip Morris – £11,147,705
Imperial Brands – £4,557,627
Altria Group – £5,543,507
Japan Tobacco – £411,943
The council however, says it has “a legal duty to achieve the best rate of return for the 75,000 pension fund members and ensure its long-term future”.

Jo Ray, the authority’s Pension Fund Manager, said: “For this reason, it maintains a wide and varied portfolio, all of which is managed externally.

Local authorities have a responsibility under the Health and Social Care Act to improve the health of their local population and promoting healthy communities and behaviours.

Lincolnshire County Council carries out a number of Stop Smoking schemes including its smoke free workplace policy.

It also supports the NHS’ One You Campaign and funds the stop smoking service.

According to council figures, in Lincolnshire there are around 106,000 smokers.

In 2017/18, 5,207 people accessed the council’s commissioned stop smoking service (Quit51).

A spokesman added that on top of this there “will be many more people who have quit or cut down using support from pharmacies, GPs and other services”.

In August, a Guardian report revealed that more than £1.7 billion had been directly invested in tobacco company stocks by healthcare providers, fire authorities and schools via UK council pension funds.

Last September, anti-fracking campaign groups 350.org, Platform and Friends of the Earth revealed that in 2016/17, Lincolnshire invested more than £50million in fracking companies including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and ConocoPhillips.

This time round, the top ten investments equate to around £258.7 million – 10.9% of the total fund.

Royal Dutch Shell is the council’s highest investment at 33.9 million (1.7%) – up from £33 million in July last year.

The full top ten, with their level of investment and the percentage of the pension fund, is:

Opponents of Carrie Lam’s policy to soon ban e-cigarettes have challenged the government to outlaw traditional cigarettes as well.

Lam’s response: she would not rule out doing so in the long run.

Speaking on radio, Lam said the government’s go-to measure to reduce the smoking population has always been raising the tobacco tax.

But she said she does not need the tobacco tax at all and would not mind a total ban on all cigarettes.

A caller asked: “We all know that cigarettes are harmful to health, but why didn’t you also ban traditional cigarettes? People using e-cigarettes will now turn to traditional cigarettes.”

Lam said since traditional cigarettes have been around for a long time, there are established measures to regulate them.

She added a bold idea like having a timetable to ban traditional cigarettes is possible “because I am relatively bold.”

However, Tsang Kwok-hang of the Asian Vape Association said the policy is like banning air guns but not real guns and said it would wipe out the small and medium-sized e-cigarette enterprises in Hong Kong.

“It’s like taking a step back. The tobacco market is dominated by several companies and this policy would force smaller companies and e-cigarettes stores to close down,” he said.

A dozen newspaper vendors also voiced their concerns, saying they are worried the ban would drive smokers to purchase heated tobacco products from illegal channels.

The group submitted a petition to lawmakers, hoping the government would drop the ban and regulate heated tobacco products, so vendors would not suffer from a loss of sales.

Food and Health Secretary Sophia Chan Siu-chee said the government changed its plan from mere regulating to banning e-cigarettes because it saw a huge backlash from the medical and education sector.

“We also saw studies from the US, Italy and Japan – countries that have not banned but have regulated e-cigarettes – showing that regulation would make it easier for teenagers to try the product,” she said.

Asked if she was worried the ban would force e-cigarette users to turn to traditional cigarettes, Chan said in her experience control policies have been effective in encouraging smokers to quit.

The Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan, on Thursday played down fears that a ban on e-cigarettes could turn people using them to traditional tobacco products instead.

Chan said the people who raise such fears do not have actual proof to back up the claim.

The secretary said that whenever a new anti-smoking policy was introduced in the past, many people quit smoking. But she didn’t offer any figures for this.

Chan said the proposal to ban e-cigarettes was made after data from surveys conducted in recent months found that many local children are into the products.

She stressed that e-cigarettes have been branded as less harmful in order to attract young smokers, making them unaware how dangerous they can be.

The original plan was to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, but Chief Executive Carrie Lam proposed an outright ban on importing, selling and promoting such products during her Policy Address on Thursday.

The ban was supported by many in the medical and education sectors, with both sectors’ lawmakers calling for such a move on Tuesday.

The Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan, does not believe e-cigs users will move on to cigarettes because of the ban.

The Secretary for Food and Health, Sophia Chan, today played down fears that a ban on e-cigarettes could tempt people using them on to traditional tobacco products instead.

Chan said the people who raise such fears do not have evidence to back up the claim, RTHK reports.

Chan said that whenever a new anti-smoking policy was introduced in the past, many people quit smoking. But she did not offer any data on those who quit.

Chan said the proposal to ban e-cigarettes was made after data from surveys conducted in recent months found that many local children favor the products.

She stressed that e-cigarettes have been branded as less harmful to attract young smokers.

The original plan was to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, but Chief Executive Carrie Lam proposed an outright ban on importing, selling and promoting such products during her Policy Address.

The proposed ban on electronic cigarettes has caused polarized reactions – with the medical sector supporting it while smokers and the tobacco industry crying foul.

E-cigarettes will soon be totally banned in the city – import, manufacture, sale, distribution and advertisement – along with other new smoking products to protect public health, Carrie Lam said.

The pending ban came as a surprise as the government earlier proposed only to restrict new smoking products the same as normal cigarettes in a Legco proposal in June.

Lam said amendments will be submitted within this legislative session to ban e-cigarettes and all other new smoking products.

E-cigarettes are often packaged as better substitutes to conventional cigarettes, with promotional activities often targeting young people.

Lam believes the harmful effects of these products have been grossly underestimated.

She changed her mind over the original proposal after speaking with Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee and reading more about the subject.

A government source said under the amendment, individuals may not be allowed to bring e-cigarettes into the SAR, even if the products are for their own use.

Tobacco companies claim adult smokers are their target audience for e-cigarette products, but the government observed the products come in different flavors that could attract teenagers.

The number of e-cigarette users surged from less than 1,000 to more than 5,000 between 2015 and this year. In addition, 8.7 percent of secondary students have tried smoking e-cigarettes.

The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and Federations of Parent-Teacher Associations welcomed the decision and urged the government to also restrict traditional cigarettes.

But tobacco company Philip Morris was not impressed, saying the 600,000 adult smokers in the city deserve to access “better products.”

Apart from that, the government will also enhance financial support for patients, in particular those suffering from rare diseases.

It will improve the means test mechanism of the Samaritan Fund and Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes by modifying the calculation method and removing possessions of patients’ parents from household assets.

Also, the first Chinese medicine hospital in Tseung Kwan O will see its operator tendering procedures beginning in the second half of next year. It is expected to be completed and start operating by 2024.